G-Unit Records
|genre = Hip hop |country = United States |url = |location = New York City, New York, United States of America }} G-Unit Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group. Founded in 2003 by rapper 50 Cent, for the first eleven years of operation, G-Unit ran in conjunction with, and was distributed by, UMG's Interscope Records. In February 2014, distribution switched to UMG's Caroline Records and Capitol Music Group. G-Unit Records has a subsidiary label G-Note Records, which caters to R&B and pop. History 2003–2005 Following the success of 50 Cent's debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', he was granted his own record label, G-Unit Records.class=artist|id=p555598/biography|pure_url=yes}} G-Unit biography. Allmusic. Accessed July 16, 2007. G-Unit, then consisting of Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and Young Buck, was signed to the label as a group, each respective member also being signed as a solo artist. Before G-Unit's signing with Interscope Records, Bang Em Smurf was very closely affiliated with the group.Carl Chery (December 5, 2003). Former G-Unit Affiliate Tells All to All-Access . SOHH. Accessed August 31, 2007. He claimed that the two recorded a mixtape from which they would earn $5 each; they sold 400,000 copies and 50 Cent allegedly never gave Bang Em' Smurf his share. Bang 'Em Smurf was never actually signed to G-Unit as an artist, but rather as an executive, or "under-boss," as he put it. [] G-Unit's commercial debut, Beg For Mercy, sold 377,000 copies in its first week of release in 2003.Katie Hasty. (July 9, 2008). Lil Wayne Back On Top Of The Billboard 200. BillBoard. Accessed July 10, 2008. It has now sold over 2.7 million units in the U.S.Crosley, Hillary (April 24, 2008). G-Unit, Game Push Back New Albums. Billboard. Accessed May 10, 2008. and 6 million copies worldwide.New York Post, Return of the Rap Pack. NYPost. Accessed June 30, 2008. It has been certified double platinum by the RIAA.RIAA. RIAA Searchable Database - "G-Unit". RIAA. Accessed May 10, 2008. After bringing in West Coast rapper and Aftermath signee, the Game in early 2004,Reid, Shaheem (February 28, 2005). 50 Drops Game From G-Unit; Shots Fired at Radio Station. MTV. Accessed July 29, 2007. Spider Loc was also signed, around the time of Young Buck's Straight Outta Cashville release.Spider Loc Bio . SpiderLoc.com. Accessed November 29, 2008. However, Game and 50 Cent later had a falling out, and 50 Cent became unsure about signing new artists to his "family"—how he perceived G-Unit as a group and record label. Later in 2007, the opportunity to sign Mobb DeepLauren Gitlin (February 15, 2005) Mobb Deep Get Hand Out From 50 Cent. Rollingstone.com Accessed November 29, 2008. and M.O.P.Ahsmi Rawlins (February 21, 2007) M.O.P. Signs on To Push Sizzurp, Plans G-Unit Debut LP XXL. Accessed November 29, 2008. was considered. 2006–2009 In 2006, G-Unit Records signed Young Hot Rod.Al Capone (October 17, 2007). [[Hot Rod (rapper)|Hot Rod] Talks G Unit, Industry Beefs, Album, Mixtape, & More] . DefSounds. Accessed November 29, 2008. In the same year, in conjunction with Mobb Deep's Infamous Records, the label signed both Nyce and 40 Glocc. In 2007, Mazaradi Fox was also added to the label.Jon Michael (June 6, 2008) [[Mazaradi Fox] - Soldier's Story] SixShot. Accessed November 29, 2008. It was also highly anticipated that Detroit rapper, Trick Trick would sign to the label,Trick Trick to sign with G-Unit? though this deal never came to be. In 2008, amidst rumors of a "beef" within G-Unit between 50 Cent and Young Buck, 50 Cent officially expelled Young Buck from the group, though assuring that Buck was still signed with the label.Aliya Ewing (April 7, 2008) 50 Cent Kicks Young Buck Out Of G-Unit & More! HipHopDX. Accessed November 29, 2008. Numerous slander songs then arose on the internet from both camps, with Young Buck being included on a track with former rival and ex-G-Unit member, Game. 50 Cent then leaked a taped phone conversation between himself and Young Buck, which showed one of the true reasons for the falling out: 50 Cent was owed money by the Southern rapper. Young Buck later stated the conversation had taken place over a year before the leak.Black Widow (June 19, 2008) Young Buck Responds to Leaked Phone Convo With 50 Cent, 'I Don't Feel No Shame' SixShot. Accessed November 29, 2008. The two camps have since released a multitude of songs aimed at each other, though the feud seems to have settled down as of late 2008. In late 2009, 50 Cent's fourth album, Before I Self Destruct, was released; which featured a track entitled "So Disrespectful", which insulted his various rivals including Jay-Z and former G-Unit Records artists, Game and Young Buck. Also in 2009, 50 Cent would collaborate with former Roc-A-Fella Records artist Beanie Sigel, which would also lead to speculation that Beanie Sigel was signing to G-Unit Records.50 Talks Possibly Signing Beanie Sigel While promoting Before I Self Destruct, 50 Cent also did a radio interview in which he spoke about the G-Unit Records roster. Within the interview, it was confirmed that Game, Young Buck, Spider Loc and Young Hot Rod were still signed to the label, while both M.O.P and Mobb Deep were no longer signed.50 Says Game, Buck & More Still Signed To G-Unit In the meantime, the label would go on to sign R&B singer, Governor and Beanie Sigel on November 5, respectively. 2010–present In early January 2010, 50 Cent claimed that he was looking to sign new comedians and authors to the label, venturing outside the realm of recording artists. Atlanta Young Jack Thriller would be the first comedian signed to the label, releasing a weekly "So Disrespectful," YouTube podcast. also becoming a regular guest on Shade45's G-Unit Radio, and co-host of the program. 50 Cent also expressed interest in signing European R&B singer Jamelia to G-Unit Records, citing that it could not only help her build a reputation in the U.S., but it would also be the first signing of a female artist to the label since singer, Olivia.50 Cent To Sign Jamelia Also in early 2010, in reference to his recent affiliation with 50 Cent and G-Unit Records, Beanie Sigel stated that he would not be signing with the label, as he and 50 Cent mutually "used" each other, though no harm to their business relationship was made. Meanwhile, Young Buck responded to various songs released on 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct. He released five records aimed at 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, G-Unit, and 40 Glocc. In an interview with MTV, 50 Cent announced that he is looking for new artists, "You'll see new faces, because I'm looking for new artists now. I'll sign new artists and take them with me and kinda groom them. Some of the stuff you can't teach a person; they gotta have it". While he was on tour, recently made affiliate Beanie Sigel confirmed after a long awaited wait, that he would be finished signing to G-Unit when 50 got back from tour. In August 2010, amidst the controversy surrounding Montana Fishburne's entrance into the adult film industry, co-porn star, Brian Pumper, released several rap songs shouting out 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. Pumper repeatedly stated his wish to be signed to G-Unit. However, the members of G-Unit have repeatedly stated they are not interested in signing Pumper. Also in August, Tony Yayo discussed how he and The Pack member, "Lil B," had hooked up and worked together in the studio, along with Yayo's newly proclaimed protoge, Danny Brown. He also stated that there was a large possibility that Lil B might be signing to G-Unit Records, and spoke as if Danny Brown was already signed. Despite this, Brown confirmed that he is not signed to G-Unit yet, but he is talks of possibly signing to the label. Also in September 2010, there was quite a bit of speculation that R&B singer, Mýa was in the process of signing to, or was already signed to the label. Lloyd Banks later in September would confirm that Mobb Deep member, Havoc was in talks to negotiate a new contract for the group in terms of signing to the label. On August 13, 2010, in an interview with MTV News, Lloyd Banks announced that G-Unit had signed a limited distribution deal with EMI in North America. The distribution deal is "strictly with artists Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo," as stated by 50 Cent in an interview. In early March 2011, rapper Shawty Lo reported in an interview that he was in talks with the label about signing. On June 8, 2011, it was confirmed by both Shawty Lo and AllHipHop.com that he had signed a deal with G-Unit Records.http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2011/06/10/22786338.aspx It was later confirmed by Shawty Lo that he had not signed to the label as an individual artist, but that his label D4L would be distributed by G-Unit Records. Rumors began appearing that Lea Sunshine, the singer who was featured in Lil' Flip's hit single, "Sunshine", was signing to G-Unit. After touring with G-Unit and being featured on G-Note Records artist, Hot Rod's debut single, she confirmed on her Twitter account that she had signed with G-Note Records.{{cite tweet|user=LeaQSunshine|author=Lea Sunshine|number=88654300397584385|date=6 July 2011|title=“@PowerPete88: @LeaQSunshine any new music coming out and which producers does 50 schedule u to work with?”